Literature Award

The Literature Award is an annual national cultural award in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is granted to authors in four categories: poetry collections, novels, short stories, and children's literature. Every year, one of these categories is selected for the award.

The award was launched as part of the National Cultural Awards initiative announced by Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan al-Saud, the minister of culture, in 2019. The first edition of the award was launched in June 2020.

The Literature Award aims to stimulate, refine, and promote literary production to serve the local cultural scene and promote the presence of Saudi literature abroad. It also highlights literary production of high value and artistic quality in an effort to elevate the general literary taste. Additionally, it seeks to discover literary talents, hone them, and encourage them to be creative.

Nominations for the competition can be made either directly by the candidates through the online platform or through other individuals who believe in their deserving of the nomination or award. Nominations can also come from specialized committees within the Ministry of Culture.

There are conditions for applying for the Literature Award. The candidate should be of Saudi nationality or born to a Saudi woman. The candidate must be at least eighteen years old. All information provided in the nomination should be accurate and complete. The candidate must either hold all the general and intellectual rights of the submitted work or possess partial ownership that allows submission with the consent of other involved parties, supported by the necessary documents proving this ownership. The submitted work should have been completed within the four years preceding the nomination. The content of the submission must adhere to the Kingdom's laws and regulations regarding publications and publishing and should be presented in Arabic.

The winners of the first three places in the first edition were:

First place: Abdulaziz Saleh al-Saqaabi.

Second place: Maqbul Moussa al-Alawi.

Third place: Amal Saleh al-Harbi.

Kifah Bu Ali won the Literature Award in the second edition for the Children's Literature category.